Left 4 Dead: Memento Mori
by EvilProduct
Summary: Re-telling of the game, stringing together the campaigns. Very much a Zoey-centric fic. Please Review if you like it or you don't, which is cool. I own none of Left 4 Dead. Enjoy! Chapter 6 is up! Note: ZoeyxFemaleOC. That's right. On Hiatus.
1. Intro pt 1

**Left 4 Dead: Memento Mori**

**Chapter 1 – Intro pt. 1**

_Zoey_

College was a depressing experience. Wake up in a filthy dorm room, go to classes that are so boring they make you want to put a gun to your temple and paint the walls with gray matter, eat lunch, go back to depressing classes and then come back to your filthy dorm room, barring (of course) the outbreak of a frat party from the good boys at Xi Delta Mu.

Zoey knew the depression of College all too well. After two years in it, she had become extremely bored with the experience. Every day was the same routine. Every single day.

The only solace she took in the experience was twofold. One, her parents were not there. Now, Zoey didn't exactly hate her parents per say. She just enjoyed time away from them. Her dad was an alcoholic and had separated from her mom when Zoey was five years old. Her mom was rendered borderline suicidal for the rest of her days. She never actually did it, but there were times when Zoey actually thought she would.

The second thing Zoey loved about College was the fact that her roommate Samantha held a common interest with her. Horror flicks. Zoey had seen every one she could get her hands on. Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and absolutely every single one of George S. Romero's masterpieces of zombie gore and macabre. Samantha was, in some ways, Zoey's horror movie apprentice. She had only seen the big name scare flicks. In Zoey's opinion, the big namers always sucked. It's the ones you have to look for that are the best. The Grindhouse exploitation films, the indie gore mash-ups of yesteryear, take your pick.

It was this night that Zoey and Samantha sat in their filthy dorm room, which Sam had dressed to look goth (which neither she nor Zoey were officially), and watched the goriest film of the year. _Zompocalypse._

"Where did you get this?" Sam asked her roommate. "It's possibly the bloodiest movie I have ever seen!"

"I found it from a bootleg vendor down the street." Zoey answered. "I go to him for all the new flicks."

"But I've never even heard of this one! When was it made?"

"It's brand new. Indie. Flew under the radar and got a soft open in only three states."

"How did it get past the MPAA? It's an absolute bloodbath!"

"It didn't. The MPAA refused to rate it because of the excessive violence, gore, language, and of course the shining gold star on this cinematic achievement…" Sam joined Zoey in finishing the sentence.

"Raunchy sex and nudity!" The two girls laughed loudly at the joke that they had held since Zoey's first year of college. They had acknowledged it as one of the three universal rules that applied to all horror movies. First, gratuitous sex and nudity will be shown on screen, and none of the participants that take place in said carnal acts shall survive the film.

Second, as unfortunate as it may sound, the black guy dies first. It wasn't anything racial, it was just that fact that Zoey had noticed this trend. For some reason, whenever there is a loud noise off screen that instantly proclaims to the viewer that the antagonistic villain/monster/zombie/killer/mad scientist is near, the token black survivor of whatever horror is being faced suddenly gets the courage to go off and check it out. Two scenes later, said token black fellow's head suddenly shows up on a pike with his body nailed to the wall. Smart move checkin' out that noise! Really, the girls hated the rule and always rooted for the token black man, up until the moment he is sadly and violently murdered.

The third rule was simple. The greatest horror movies of all time end with the hero/heroine ending up dead himself/herself. Why would we want to see the good guys win? So cliché. Only when the villain/monster/zombie/killer/mad scientist completely and totally massacres every one and everything do Zoey and Sam get their money's worth.

Of course, there was also the fourth unwritten and unsaid rule that needed no discussing. The MPAA sucked. Every single one of those guys and gals who rate the movies they watched always seemed to have their heads up their asses. These know nothing fools rate movies based on blood, language, and sex, but never the substance of the films. They had totally overlooked _Zompocalypse_ because of the blood and boobs featured within. What do you think will curb a teens appetite for destruction, murder, chaos, and fornication better than an hour and a half of blood, gore, zombies, and sex? But no! The Soccer Moms of America need to be holier than thou and say that movies like this "corrupt our youth and incite anarchic behavior".

Zoey always hated talking about the MPAA, in fact, she tried to avoid the topic all together. This is why rule four was unwritten and unsaid. The only thing Zoey was ever corrupted by was the spousal abuse she witnessed as a child, and that wasn't that much.

"God I love movie night!" Sam proclaimed.

"I know right! I heard they were making a _Zompocalypse 2_."

"No way!" It continued like this throughout the night.

--

_Louis_

"How are the trial runs going?" Louis asked the doctors as they walked out of the lab.

"What are you doing up here Louis?" the Doctor replied. "You know this is a restricted area."

"Yeah I know, but I wanted to see what you guys were working on. The guys downstairs said it was some sort of cure for cancer."

"You know that's not information I can share with you. You need to get back downstairs before someone spots you."

"Damn it Rick, I want to know what you guys are working on up here! Please, you can't keep secrets from me man! We went to high school together! Come on, what are you working on?" Louis was adamant. Rick knew he wouldn't leave without new info.

"Alright, fine! We're experimenting with performance enhancing drugs. They're supposed to enhance all five senses; sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing."

"Enhancement drugs? What are they doing working on things like that in there?"

"I don't know, now go back downstairs to your goddamn desk now please." Louis reluctantly agreed with his old friend.

"Fine. But, you're going to keep me posted on what's going on up here." Rick didn't say anything as Louis fixed his tie and ran back downstairs.

--

_Francis_

Driving a motorcycle within city limits was hell if you were a biker. Francis always hated traffic control cops pulling him over for no reason. It was his tattoos they had a problem with. They always mistook them for gang tats. The local gang in Fairfield was called "the Brotherhood". It was just a bunch of whack-job bikers with matching leather jackets and easily agitated attitudes. Francis was not affiliated with them.

The bar Francis frequented most was called "The Greasy Wheel". The owner knew Francis and let him use the bar as a "second home" as he liked to say. He was at the bar more than his own house. Ever since his wife left him, Francis hadn't wanted to be there much.

The tattooed biker sucked down a shot of whiskey and looked up at the television hanging from the ceiling. The news was on again. The newscasters were rambling idiots in his opinion, but it was what was on. There was a news report about Solanum Industries.

"CEOs of Solanum Industries today met with the heads of several pharmaceutical companies to discuss progress on the project that was contracted between them three weeks ago. No details of said project have been released to the public as of yet, but an inside source has informed me that scientists inside have been working on performance enhancing drugs that are speculated to enhance workings of the five senses. What does this mean for you, the viewer? As of yet, we cannot say. Stay tuned for more details."

"Hey Ryan." said Francis to his favorite bartender. "Turn this shit off. The game's on today, why can't we watch that?"

"Cause I wanna watch this Francis." The bartender replied. "When you own a bar, you can put on whatever the hell you want." The biker took another shot of whiskey, finishing the bottle, and got up to leave.

"Fine, I'll see you later." He said as he pushed open the heavy door.

"Francis." The biker stopped at the door. "Go home. Please. You need sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Francis was kick-starting his hog before Ryan could get out another word. The wind was in his face within minutes.

--

_Louis_

"Louis!" The IT desk jockey looked up from his little world called cubicle. It was Rick, coming down from the labs upstairs.

"What is it?" Louis tried to sound as unsuspicious as possible.

"What the hell was that on TV?" Rick asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"The report on the Fairfield News! The anchorwoman said she has a source inside Solanum and then, as if by magic, she recites the exact information I told you earlier!" Damn, Louis thought. She had said the report would be as vague as possible and run a week from then. Louis knew the press lied, but never to this extent.

"What are you saying Rick?" he asked.

"I'm saying that you are the source! God damn it Louis, I could lose my job if they find out I told you what they were working on and you went and told the press!"

"I didn't tell the press, Rick!" Louis lied. "You know I wouldn't do that!"

"You would do anything to get out of this job! I know you hate it. I know all you fantasize about is quitting, but you never do it because the severance pay would be worth it. Getting fired from this damn job is your ultimate goal." Louis was silent, as his friend's suspicions were true.

"I am not letting you take me down with you." Rick continued. "If you want to get fired, that's your business, not mine. Leave me out of it." Rick was gone before Louis could even mutter 'I'm sorry'.

--

_Bill_

The inner workings of a gun were a complex thing. When a trigger is pulled, all a person really sees is the slam of the hammer and the flight path of the bullet. Really, when a trigger is fired, the hammer is pushed back and a spring loaded mechanism slams a firing pin down on a small circular space on the back of a bullet containing a reserve of gunpowder. The explosion of gunpowder within the chamber pushes the bullet forward through the barrel, ejecting it out the business end of the firearm.

After a bullet is fired from the barrel, the cartridge that once held the bullet is ejected from the chamber and falls freely to the floor. Another bullet then takes the place of the fired one once room is made through a spring pushed mechanism within the magazine of the handgun. Once a new bullet takes the first one's place, the process can be repeated several times depending on the amount of bullets a given magazine can hold.

These were the thoughts that were running through Bill's head as he aimed at the head of the paper target in front of him. The firing range was a place of solace for him. The jungles of Vietnam may be a distant memory at the moment, but in a place deep, deep within his soul, he was still there.

Three shots rang out, each making holes in the paper target fifty feet away from the place where he stood. He wore no glasses or earmuffs like the people beside him in the room. He had no need for them. He was already desensitized to the sound, sight, and smell of the firing of the bullet.

The paper target took fifteen seconds to reach its owner. Bill surveyed his work. Just like his days in Vietnam, his kill shots were precise, two in the heart, one in the head. Like a poisonous snake's bite, the hits were lethal and fatal. He still had it.

Bill pulled up another paper target and put it in its place on the hanger. He clicked the button that pushed the mechanism back to the end of the hallway. Once it had stopped, Bill pushed the magazine release and caught the clip as it fell into his hand. He pushed three more bullets into it from his ammo box and loaded it back into the M1911A1 pistol. He fired blindly forward, slightly testing his skills. He would later find that the bullet hit dead center in the forehead of the target. He was more impressed by the spent shell he had caught in the air after the slide ejected it.

Yeah, he still had it.

--

_Zoey_

Zoey was tired. It was past four o' clock in the morning, and she had to get up for classes the next morning. Maybe she'd skip the first two tomorrow. Yeah, she could afford to do that.

There were limited amounts of warm water in the dorm's shower. Zoey worked with what she could. After about fifteen minutes in the bathroom, she was shivering. The towel she wrapped around herself only came down to just below her hips. It warmed her up when Sam joined her in the bathroom.

"Hey there." Zoey said to her. Sam was wearing nothing but a towel over her naked form. Zoey couldn't help but stare. She had always been jealous of Sam's genetic 'gifts'.

"Well hello." She replied. Her hands moved quickly to the top of her towel. Zoey's eyes widened when it fell to the floor and Sam stood before her in nothing but her birthday suit. Zoey smiled.

"I'm guessing you're not tired." She said. Her eyes ran over the blonde haired goddess before her. Sam's sleek amazing curves invited Zoey in.

"The night's just getting started for me." Sam replied. "How about you?"

"I think I can stay up a bit longer. I was planning on skipping my first two classes anyway."

"Good, then I guess we can have some fun before we get to bed." Sam's smile elongated. Her gentle face warmed Zoey's mood. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when Sam swiftly swiped her towel off of her torso as well, exposing her. She could swear time stopped when Sam's lips met hers. She pulled away only seconds after.

"Mmm. You taste good." She said. Sam mustered a giggle. Zoey pushed her out of the bathroom door back into the bedroom. The two girls fell down onto the bed, their lips molding them into one.

Zoey couldn't get enough of Sam. She had been transfixed on her since their first meeting. She had never felt the same way about any other girl than she felt about Sam. She didn't just think of Sam as a friend. She thought of her as a love. It had taken her six months to actually admit it to her. When Sam reciprocated, she had made her a very happy girl. They spent all the time they could together. Zoey's heart was sent racing every time Sam touched her. They spent every night together. Zoey felt safe in Sam's arms. When their lips met, it was like a fireworks show. They were two souls molded into one, two lovers trapped in an everlasting moment of time.

If either of their parents ever found out about this, blood might be spilt. That's why they had promised never to go home. Sam didn't come from a broken home like Zoey had. Her parents were self-made millionaires, highly aristocratic, high-society types. They were also homophobic, gay-bashing, Conservative Republicans. Sam hated her parents for that.

Neither of the girls wanted to go home. They wanted to be together forever. Three months before, they were looking at prices on apartments. Zoey had even found one that Sam agreed to pay half for. It was waiting for them after college.

For now, all they had was the dorm room and each other. Zoey lay in Sam's arms, and vice versa. They stared at each other all night. It was over an hour before anything was said.

"I love you." Sam told the girl beside her.

"I love you too." Zoey answered.

"Promise me you'll never leave my arms."

"I promise." The two shared a kiss and laid their heads on their pillows. They slept soundly, their dreams filled with hope.


	2. Intro pt 2

**Chapter 2 – Intro pt. 2**

_Louis_

Louis never wanted Rick to know about the news leak business. He knew that if Rick were implicated, he would lose his job. Rick and he were best friends, always were. Rick was good at his job. Louis, while he was good at it, hated his job. Rick was right; Louis shouldn't have done what he did.

"I can't do this anymore. Someone's getting nosy. Find another source." Louis slammed down the phone's receiver and took a gasp of breath before the reporter on the other end could say a word against his decision.

Louis got up from his IT desk and fixed his tie in a second. He was at the elevator in thirty. The doors opened in two. Louis suddenly realized he had been aware of passing time. Maybe it was the job. It was seeping into his brain. He couldn't stop it. The elevator ride took fourteen seconds.

--

_Zoey_

Zoey's eyes fluttered open in the morning. It was well past the time for her first class. She'd go to her third later. She didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was Sam's face, which was the first sight she awoke to. Zoey didn't want to leave that moment. It was Sam waking up that sent her heart racing.

"Hello beautiful." She whispered.

"Nice to see you." Zoey replied. Their lips met once more.

"You have to get ready for class." Sam said once they broke their kiss.

"I don't want to break my promise."

"What promise?"

"I said I wouldn't leave your arms."

"Thank you." Make-out sessions were a normalcy for the couple, and they were soon in the middle of one right then. Beneath the covers of the bed, Zoey's hand slid down Sam's naked hip, inching down to her legs.

"Zoey." Sam muttered, almost reprimanding her. "You have class."

"Why can't I stay with you?" Zoey asked with a feigned pouting face. Sam smiled.

"Get dressed and go to class. I won't let you fail out of school because of me." Zoey stole one more kiss from Sam's lips before throwing the covers off of both of their naked bodies and running to the closet.

"Will you still be here when I come back?" she asked the bare beauty in her bed while strapping on her bra.

"I don't have classes today. I'm planning on staying in bed for you all day." Sam stretched out on the bed and tasseled her hair. A delighted smile moved along Zoey's face.

"I'm going to the store after class and bringing back the bloodiest, goriest, most gruesome sex-filled monster movies I can find in the rental section of Blockbuster and we are going to have some fun tonight."

"Why don't you stop at that shop down the street as well. What's it called, Steve's House of Sex?" Zoey tried to avoid the porno shop Sam was referring to, but she did frequent it once in awhile. Once Zoey had pulled on her T-shirt, jeans, and pink zippered hoodie, she walked back to Sam and bent over to kiss her once more.

"You still taste good."

"Go to class. I'll be here when you get back." Zoey walked to the door.

"I love you Sam."

"I love you too Zoey." She shut the door behind her and walked down the hallway towards her second class of the day. She didn't stop smiling the rest of the day, knowing what she had to go back to.

--

_Bill_

Bill knew the Greasy Wheel was a biker bar, he had since the day he first saw it. That didn't deter him though. He was a war veteran. He wasn't scared of a bunch of assholes wearing matching leather jackets, tattoos, and colors. He had damn near had his arm blown off by an IED in Nam'. He'd seen guys shot to hell by assault rifle fire. Hell, he'd even seen a guy go nuts and shoot himself in the depths of the jungle for unknown reasons. Bill really wished he could have known why he had done that, but he never found out.

So what did Bill think of a little biker gang? He couldn't give less of a shit. The Greasy Wheel was a bar that sold hard liquor and allowed smoking. He could go there if he damn well pleased as far as he was concerned.

"Can I get a double shot of Jack?" Bill asked Ryan the Barkeep from his stool.

"Comin right up Bill." Ryan pulled up the bottle of Jack Daniels and poured Bill's drinks.

"Thanks Ry." Bill downed the drinks quickly.

"You want me to leave the bottle?" Ryan asked.

"I gotta drive home today kid, what do you think?"

"I'll leave it here if you want it." Bill had to admit that Ryan knew what he liked.

--

_Francis_

Francis had met Bill before. He had a high amount of respect for Vietnam war veterans, but Bill wasn't the best guy he had ever met. He always seemed so detached from the world. Bill had a job at Fairfield's local firing range, giving him ample time to work on his aim. This made Francis considerably wary of aggravating Bill, fearing that he carried that fancy handgun he always shot with at the firing range with him at all times.

When Francis saw Bill's 1976 Chevy Impala parked outside the Greasy Wheel, he had to catch his breath. It was Saturday. Something told Francis that Bill was strapped while he sat at the bar. Ryan shouldn't really allow guns in the bar, but he's been known to overlook it for some people. Francis swallowed hard and pushed the bar's door open.

"Well, well, well." He said as he entered after catching sight of Bill at the bar. "What do we have here, an old man sucking down his weight in vintage whiskey? Or an old war machine reflecting on kills from the past?"

"How the hell are ya Francis?" Bill asked without turning around. He knew it was Francis from experience with him. He knew Francis wasn't part of that pansy-ass biker club Brotherhood, but he still jokingly acted like he did. He knew Francis hated that.

"I don't know old man, how you been?"

"I work at a firing range and spend my twilight years shooting at paper targets on weekends and downing whiskey afterwards on weekends. I'm having the time of my life." Francis laughed at Bill's comment. The old guy could still crack a joke.

"You gonna order a drink or not Francis?"

"I'll have what he's havin'. Make it a double." Francis sat down on the stool beside Bill while Ryan fixed his drink. "So, you do some shootin' today Bill?"

"What did I just say biker boy? Besides, you know my schedule by now. You know I did."

"I'm just making small talk old man. Geez." Francis downed his drink immediately when Ryan slid it to him.

"I'll leave the bottle here." Ryan said before walking down the other end of the bar to deal with another drunk. Francis looked up at the TV above the bar. It was another report on Solanum Industries.

"…unfortunately, Solanum's CEOs have refused to come out to make a statement on the newly recovered details about their human enhancement project. My source inside has become reluctant to reveal information, garnering suspicion that he may have been quieted by Solanum itself."

"Oh, great," Bill said. "just what this city needs, a conspiracy theory." Francis let out a laugh at Bill's comment. The reporter continued.

"All our information tells us at this moment is-" The reporter was cut off abruptly by shouting off screen.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The voice asked. "Get that camera away from the building!"

"We've been spotted by Solanum security." The reporter explained. "My report will continue shortly-" The camera was pushed to the ground and shouting was heard off screen. Francis could make out the reporter spouting several cuss words at the security guards. He laughed.

"Maybe this is better than the game." He said.

"Boy. This is the game." Francis groaned. He hated it when Bill got philosophical. He downed another drink and slammed down the shot glass, trying to forget all his troubles.

--

_Louis_

The elevator stopped at the seventeenth floor of the Solanum building. The doors slid open quickly, allowing Louis to exit. He walked out of the elevator at a quick pace, half-running to find Rick. He still felt really bad about the day before. He still had to apologize.

Rick was in the research labs, as always. He was clad in full biohazard protection gear, complete with an astronaut-esque helmet. Behind the glass that divided Rick and Louis, he was working with what Louis could only guess was some pretty volatile chemicals. Rick looked up to see Louis behind the glass. A look of anger filled his eyes. Rick put down the chemicals and walked over to the glass. There was an intercom on the wall that he pressed to talk to Louis.

"What in god's name are you doing here!? I told you not to come up here!" Rick yelled.

"I'm sorry. I just had to apologize about yesterday. I didn't mean to lie to you like that."

"You couldn't have done this some other time?" Louis did realize that he could have done that. Rick's anger the day before had made him feel so guilty, he just wanted to apologize. It hadn't occurred to him to wait until after work to talk.

"Shit. I hadn't thought of that." Louis said. Rick sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you what. We'll get a drink later. How's that? Can this wait until then?" Louis nodded before he turned to leave.

--

_Zoey_

It was seven o' clock when Zoey got back to Sam in their dorm room. She was still sprawled out on the bed, naked as the days she was born. When she said she wasn't going to leave, she meant it.

Zoey had six movies from Blockbuster under her one arm and a bag filled with a few bags of popcorn in the other. She had one hell of a night planned. Hidden within the Blockbuster bag was a porno movie from Steve's as well, but Zoey would save that for later.

"Well, hello there." Sam said as Zoey walked in. "Ooh, looks like you've been at work. Whaddaya got?"

"Let's see. _Dead as a Doornail, Satan's Cage, Hell's Bells, Broken Halos, The House on the River, _and one of my all time favorites, _Plan 9 From Outer Space._"

"Why is that one your favorite?" Sam asked.

"It was directed by Ed Wood Jr. in the glory days of Black & White. It's also probably one of the worst feature films ever to grace a cinema screen, making it a hilarious and horrifying experience."

"I can't wait." Zoey set down the movies on the bed and leaned down to Sam. Their lips met, and a fiery hot passion ignited between them.

"Which one do you want to watch first?" Zoey asked her lover.

"Put in _Plan 9_ and get out of those clothes," Sam replied. "I want you right here in my arms for the rest of the night." Zoey was happy to oblige. She slipped off her jacket, shirt, pants, bra, and panties and jumped into bed with her golden haired love.

"Tonight my apprentice, you will get a real education. Welcome to Horror 101."

"Does the teacher also teach Anatomy?"

"I stopped at Steve's as well."

"You naughty girl." Sam said. Zoey smiled. The two kissed once more, signaling that class had begun.

--

_Rick_

"What is the status of the clinical trials of serum A1-404?" Rick asked his fellow doctor. It was almost time to go home. Rick was actually looking forward to getting a drink with Louis. They hadn't done so in a while. He really missed their friendship. Solanum seemed to be destroying it. Rick looked back at the vial he was handling.

"Trials of A1-404 are running well." said Rick's associate doctor. "Lab rat number 24 has showed signs of increased awareness of his surroundings. No other side effects shown."

"Inject serum A1-404 Compound 2 into lab rat 25." Rick commanded as he handed the vial to the doctor. "Log all activity. We need a perfect sample."

"Yes doctor-" The unthinkable happened.

Clumsiness is a human component. Everyone experiences it. Every so often, you trip on the side walk, or you drop an object. This was a time when clumsiness was not acceptable.

The doctor working with Rick was still an intern. It was the end of the day, and the real doctor had left already. Rick was out of his bio-suit, favoring a normal doctor's coat instead. The intern had experienced clumsiness.

The vial dropped to the floor. The glass shattered to the floor.

"Shit!" said Rick. "What the fuck newbie?" He hadn't meant to sound so mean, but it slipped out.

"I'm sorry Doctor. I didn't mean to-"

"Just clean it up."

"Um…doctor."

"What?"

"Look." Rick stared down at the vial's contents. It was smoking. A smoky white fog was arising from the spilled liquid. This was an unexpected result. Rick began to cough. His throat began to swell up. He couldn't breathe. The intern fell to the floor.

"Doctor…" The intern wheezed. "What…is…*wheeze*…going on?"

"The serum…it's interacting…*wheeze*…with the…oxygen in the…lab. Our lungs…they're deteriorating."

"I can't…see doctor. I'm BLIND!" The intern had yelled as loud as he could. Rick couldn't say any more. His throat had swelled. The intern was dying. It was only minutes before they were both dead.

--

_Louis_

It was three hours past closing time for Solanum Industries. He knew Rick normally worked overtime, but he had made a promise. Louis knew Rick kept his promises.

"Rick?" he yelled down the echoing hallway of the research labs. "Rick are you there? Come on man, I did apologize." At the end of the hall, a figure appeared. The lights were out, and Louis couldn't really see, but he assumed it was Rick.

"Rick, come on man, let's go." A growl was the response given to Louis. "Rick are you okay?"

The figure walked into the light. Even from down the hall, Louis could make him out. It wasn't Rick. This figure was over six feet tall. Its skin was a pale green color, and its face was so disfigured, he couldn't make out if it had once been human. A long slimy object hung from what Louis could only assume was once its mouth.

"Rick?" Is that you?" There was another growl, a large guttural growl. The thing hanging from its mouth swung from side to side. It took a second look for Louis to see that it was a tongue. He nearly vomited.

"What the fuc-" The creature at the end of the hall gave out another growl, but no ordinary growl. It was louder than the previous one. The "tongue" whipped forward. The ugly, slimy thing swung towards Louis.

He quickly dodged the slimy tongue, dropping to the ground to avoid it. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know the next move to make. Louis ran to the elevator, hastily pounding his finger on the down button. The doors whisked open, and Louis jumped on. The tongue made another move. It flung forward at Louis.

"AHHHHH!" he screamed. The doors of the elevator slammed shut, with the tongue only an inch or two away from Louis's nose.

"What the fuck just happened!?" he half yelled at the tongue. It slid up the door, getting caught at the top when the elevator went down. The tongue was severed after at least three floors.

"Jesus Christ."


	3. Outbreak

**Chapter 3 – Outbreak**

_24 Hours since first outbreak_

_Zoey_

"Please remain calm. Evacuation routes have been set up. Please form single file lines through the checkpoints! We need to tag you for later cataloging. Board the buses in a calm and orderly fashion. The virus is not airborne. The air is safe."

The military official was standing on top of the school bus Zoey and Sam were designated to get on. He was yelling into a megaphone at the college students waiting in line to board the evacuation buses. Their hands were clasped together, not breaking for anything. Sam's head was resting on Zoey's shoulder.

"It'll be okay." Zoey consoled her lover. "We're getting out of the city."

"I'm not afraid of dying Zoey." Sam replied, almost reading her love's thoughts. "I'm afraid of losing you." Their lips met in a kiss once more.

Lisa Stanfield was standing behind them. Lisa was known at Mercy University as one of the biggest homophobes ever to walk the earth. She did all but pull out a crowbar and pry Zoey and Sam's lips apart when she saw them meet.

"That is so unholy." She said like the Christian conservative bitch she was.

"We're being evacuated because of a viral outbreak that is reanimating the dead you fucking bitch!" Sam yelled at her. "I think mine and Zoey's intimate moments are the least of your concerns."

"Your 'intimate moments' are a spite against god. God has a plan for all of us, but you sinners are going to die in this Apocalypse he has manifested. The Rapture will protect me. You sinners will burn in the fires of hell." Sam turned away from Lisa and rested her head once again on Zoey's shoulder, ignoring the bitch behind them.

Zoey and Sam were next in line to board the bus. Sam went first.

"Name please." The lieutenant asked her.

"Samantha Thorn" she replied.

"Take this ID tag to bus thirty-two down on the left. Next." Sam stepped forward, stopping behind the lieutenant, waiting for Zoey.

"Name?" the lieutenant asked.

"Zoey Wells."

"Bus Thirty-three."

"Wait, what? Why not thirty-two?"

"Thirty-two is full."

"But I-" Zoey's argument was stopped by Sam's intersection into the conversation.

"Zoey, no." she said. "We can't fight this. Go on the bus. I'll meet you at the checkpoint."

"Sam, I'm not leaving you." Zoey pleaded.

"Ladies, I'm gonna have to ask you to board your buses." The lieutenant asked.

"Hold on, please." Sam asked. "Zoey, I love you. I'll see you at the safe point." Zoey knew she couldn't argue with Sam. She always was the rational one of the two. There was no arguing with her.

"I love you too Sam." Zoey pushed her lips against Sam's, igniting another spark of fiery passion between the two.

"Go." Sam said. "I'll see you there. I love you."

"I love you." Zoey turned around and walked to her bus. Tears flowed from her eyes, and her heart seemed nonexistent as she tried to walk away from Sam without running back and grabbing her once more.

--

_Bill, Francis, & Ryan_

"How many times do I have to tell you, get the fuck out of my bar!" Ryan yelled at the Brotherhood members. He held a pump-action shotgun in his hands, aiming it at the intruders. He stood side by side with Bill and Francis behind the bar of the Greasy Wheel. Bill was dressed in his full army outfit from Vietnam, complete with his green beret. The sights of his M1911A1 were trained on the head of the lead Brotherhood member. Francis stood beside him, shotgun in hand.

"Come on, man!" The Brotherhood leader said. "We just want all the money in the till and all the booze we can drink!"

"Don't come any closer!" Francis yelled. His arm jerked back, pumping the shotgun, and readying it to fire.

"What are you gonna do, shoot us?" the Leader asked.

"I was planning on it." Francis replied.

"Boys," Bill interjected. He had remained calm throughout the ordeal. He had even stopped to light himself a cigarette earlier. It was still burning in his lips. "Hate to break it to you, but it's time for you to go."

"Shut your face, old man. This bar is property of the Brotherhood."

"That's where you're mistaken. Ryan owns this establishment."

"Ryan ain't gonna be livin in the next few minutes pops!"

"You ever been shot before son?" Bill asked. The Leader was taken aback by the question. His boys behind him backed up a bit.

"What?"

"I asked if you've ever been shot boy."

"No." said he, wavering a bit.

"Well, then you don't know how painful it is. You see that pump-action Francis is holding. It will fire a highly concentrated round of steel balls into your flesh should you provoke him. The shot will cause the small bullets to penetrate blood veins, making the bullets flow through them. Eventually, the bullets will clog your arteries quicker than a clot ever would. You will slowly bleed internally and externally, living in agonizing pain for, oh say another ten minutes after first getting shot. That is if you don't die of shock first. Do you really want to take the chance of him missing?" The Leader had no comeback for that.

"Then again," Bill continued. "I could just shoot you with this here M1911A1 in your arm first to disarm you of your crowbars there. Then I could put two rounds in your heart. That'll all but paralyze you and kill you slowly."

The Leader didn't want to take the chance. He backed away, dropping his crowbar in the process. His followers followed suit.

"You're a crazy motherfucker, old man. You're fuckin crazy!"

"Oh, am I now?" Bill said. His thumb made a quick movement on his gun. The gun's hammer was clicked back.

To the Brotherhood's leader, the clicking of the hammer was more than enough of a frightening noise to send the members of the club falling out of the door of the bar. They ran, screaming into the night.

Once the Brotherhood was at least two blocks away, Francis almost fell over laughing. Bill and Ryan followed suit.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Francis laughed. "Bill, I knew there was something I liked about you."

"I got about a thousand other ways to kill a man. I'm an encyclopedia that way."

"If we get out of this alive, you two have free drinks for life." Ryan added.

"What now?" Francis thought aloud.

"I think we should get out of the city." Bill said, lighting another cigarette as he did. "I heard there was an evacuation point at the Solanum building. They quarantined the creatures inside the building, letting people who worked there get out."

"The evac point is that close to the point of origin of the infection?" Francis asked.

"Let's just get there." Ryan suggested. "I don't think they'll ignore us when we're carrying weapons."

"Why would they ignore us?" Francis asked.

"The evacuation vehicles are for Solanum employees exclusively." Bill explained.

"Let's crash the party then." Francis suggested. Bill nodded in approval.

--

_Louis_

Louis felt absolutely awful. It was his fault. If Rick wasn't so distracted from earlier, maybe the accident wouldn't have taken place and the infection wouldn't have spread. He couldn't stop blaming himself. His head lay in his hands.

The evacuation helicopters were right next to the Solanum building. Louis heard gunfire earlier. The Army was clearing the building of all infected. Everyone that was still in the building was assumed to be infected. Take no prisoners and leave none alive. Those were the orders they were given

Louis was sitting with his head in his hands in the back of a bus when he heard gunshots closer to him than the army's. He looked up to see out the window and saw three men holding guns up in the air.

"We don't wanna alarm anyone, but we're getting the hell out of here." The first man said. The first man was the shortest of the group, but also the most uniquely dressed. He wore a black leather biker's vest that showed off every one of his arms' tattoos. His hair was cut into a shaved Mohawk and he sported a goatee. All this went well with the pump-action shotgun he had hoisted over his shoulder.

"We can't let you on these buses." said the Solanum official who had been directing everyone to the evacuation buses. "They are for Solanum employees only."

"We don't give a damn." said the second man. The second man was older and had a white beard. His stone-faced expression complemented the green beret and olive drab jacket he wore. Louis ventured a guess that he was a Vietnam vet, or at the very least, Korea.

"We're getting on these buses, and we'll take hostages as insurance if we have to." The third man was dressed the simplest. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans. The shirt bore the logo of Fairfield's token biker bar, the Greasy Wheel. Most likely, he was employed there.

"Wait!" Louis suddenly yelled. Why, he couldn't be sure, but he did. Everyone was looking at him, as he was now standing outside the bus, just beside the door. He had a moment of realization. He thought 'why am I sticking up for the guys with the guns?' But he continued anyway.

"Let them on the bus!" he said. "We can spare three seats."

"What's your name sir?" The Solanum official asked.

"Louis Henderson. I'll let them sit with me, just put the guns down okay?" The Solanum official stared hard at Louis, but he eventually caved.

"Fine, let them on." He said. "But check their weapons first."

"I'll take the mag outta mine," said the older man. "but you'll have to pry the gun itself from my cold dead hands." The Solanum official reluctantly agreed and allowed the three on the bus. Each passed Louis on their way up. The older man gave him a stern nod of the head, as if to silently say 'thank you'.


	4. Evacuation

**Chapter 4 – Evacuation**

_30 hours since first outbreak_

_Zoey_

Life without Sam was agonizing, even for a few hours. Zoey's heart ached. Her knees were shaking, She sat at the back of what had once been a school bus, waiting for this crisis to be over. She was waiting to get back to Sam, back to her love. Her world would be set right then. Zombies or not.

Zoey knew what they meant by infection. She had seen it all too many times. First the government quarantines the point of origin. Then they keep the American people in the dark. That's when the evacuation plans are put into effect. Suddenly the evacuated city is nuked by a lone air force fighter jet. If Zoey didn't know any better, she'd think the name of her fair city had just changed from Farifield to Raccoon. The infection was zombies. She could feel it in her bones.

Being a horror movie enthusiast prepared you for a lot of things. You knew what rooms of a dark scary house not to enter when a deranged killer was on the loose, you knew that the government was not to be trusted when they are faced with a problem like a zombie apocalypse, and you even knew what happens when you shoot a person point blank in the head. But, nothing could prepare you for the agonizing feeling of remorse and defeat you felt when torn away from someone you love. Even worse, Zoey's wishes of wanting to meet a zombie in person had been realized, and she hated it. She hated it more than anything else in the world.

"I'll see you there Sam. No matter what happens, we'll be together again." Zoey hadn't realized she had said that sentence out loud until she heard Lisa Stanfield scoff. Zoey smiled.

--

_Bill, Francis, Louis, & Ryan_

"What was your name again?" Ryan asked Louis. The three stowaways from the checkpoint were seated at the back of the bus with the man who had stood up for them.

"Louis Henderson. I worked at Solanum's IT department. What's yours?"

"My name's Ryan McTavish." Ryan offered his hand to Louis. He gratefully accepted it and shook. Ryan gestured to Francis, who was asleep beside Ryan, shotgun in his lap. "That's Francis. Don't mind his attitude, he's a cool guy."

"My name's Bill." Bill was sitting in the seat behind Louis, He offered his hand as well. "Lieutenant Bill Overbeck, Green Beret."

"What war?" Louis asked.

"Vietnam."

"No shit?" Louis asked. "I was guessing Korea at best."

"Nah, I'm just an old vet who hasn't died yet."

"Well, you're probably one of the guys we need in this thing."

"What exactly is happening?" Ryan asked. "All I've heard is what FDN told us." Louis was reluctant to relate the story of his friend's accident that started all this, but he felt like he had to. No one else was telling them anything.

"You remember the reports on TV talking about the chemical tests of a human enhancement drug at Solanum?"

"Yeah, I heard about that? What about it?"

"I was the source the reporter was talking to. My friend worked in the research labs and I weaseled some top secret info out of him."

"No shit. I heard they silenced you." Bill said.

"That was my decision. Anyway, late last night, there was an accident. Don't ask me what happened. The end result of it was that my friend was infected by this aggressively mutating viral infection. It mutated his body to a point beyond horrific. I barely escaped with my life."

"Wait, this sound way too cliché. What you're describing sounds like…" Ryan obviously didn't want to finish the sentence. The now conscious Francis did it for him after he trailed off.

"Zombies. It sounds like they're zombies." Francis rolled over and was rendered unconscious once more.

"He may be lazy, but he has some sense." Bill explained.

"As Solanum has found, there are five types of zombie mutations. First, the Hollywood variant. Solanum's calling them the Horde. They're dead-brained, flesh-rotten, quick moving, former humans driven by a need to eat."

"Okay, I think we've got them memorized by now." Ryan interjected.

"The next variant is called a Smoker."

"What the fuck is that? A stoned zombie?" Louis could admit one thing, Ryan knew how to lighten the mood.

"A smoker is average six feet tall, with a disfigured face and a long ass tongue. Their tongues act like a chameleon's would. It strikes out to drag a human towards them from afar."

"How far can the tongue extend?" Bill asked.

"Average, fifteen yards."

"Goddamn! How the hell did their team get a sniper?"

"Stay away from Smokers, when they die their lungs emit a noxious gas that can render a human unconscious for up to an hour."

"Oh, that just sounds great."

"Should I continue?" Louis asked.

"If we don't know about these things, we can't fight them effectively." Bill said. "Keep going."

"The next one's called a Boomer." Ryan shuddered in his seat.

--

_The Survivors_

Solanum Industries had estimated that they could have the city evacuated in a matter of hours, what with the dwindling population and abundance of funds they had. A squadron of buses was sent all over the city to various evacuation points. To an extent, they were right. The hundreds of buses that were sent out completed their boarding approximately thirty hours after the first outbreak of the virus. Buses were already outside the quarantine zone that the city itself had become. The infection would not spread past there. The last of the buses that were due to evacuate were almost outside the city limits when the accident occurred. While Solanum could estimate the amount of time it would take to evacuate, the never factored in room for error. The error that came into play was known as a Tank.

Zoey's head was resting on the window beside her. She had been like this for the last few hours, drifting in and out of sleep. Her heart ached and it felt as if there was a piece of it missing. Zoey looked down at a picture she had kept with her. It was of her and Sam on a summer day from the year before. Zoey remembered the day well. It was the first day she admitted she was in love with Sam. They were having a picnic in the countryside under a big oak tree. Zoey and Sam's gleeful smiles stared back up at her.

A bus came into view outside Zoey's window. The bus had reached farm country outside Fairfield limits to the quiet county of Allegheny. The other bus bore the symbol of Solanum industries on the side. It was one in a long line of buses that followed evacuating the city. Zoey looked up at the buses ahead of hers. Sam's was no longer in sight. Hers had left earlier than Zoey's. It was probably at the safe point already, Zoey thought. At least Sam was safe.

The silence of the night was broken by a large angry cry in the wind. Everyone on Zoey's buss jumped out of their seats to look out the windows at the source of the noise. It was a roar of anger to the right of the bus. The only things to the right of the bus were the woods of Allegheny and a small barn that belonged to the residents of what used to be a farmhouse. Another roar sent shock up Zoey's spine, and she too got up to look.

There was something inside the barn. Something big, something hulking…something angry. The creature stepped out into the moonlight. The creature stood just over seven feet tall. The best thing Zoey could equate it too would be the Incredible Hulk. What once were human biceps now were a bulking mass of muscle on either arm. The beast's chest was puffed out like a bodybuilder's would be. Its head had stayed the same size during the change and looking more like a zit on the creature than anything. Remnants of a shirt still hung from the creature's arms. The creature gave out a battle-cry like howl before grabbing hold of the cement floor of the barn. In a split-second, the beast smashed its hands into the cement and grabbed hold of what it could. The result of this activity was a boulder of cement and stone from the ground. The creature lifted it up over its head and threw, as if it were a pebble.

The cement block hurdled itself against the school bus's front end, crushing the engine, the driver, and a few of the unlucky passengers at the front. The bus was sent careening to the left, right into the Solanum bus beside it.

All five of our survivors knew what came next. Francis was jolted awake, Ryan held onto his seat. Bill and Louis braced themselves against the floor. And finally, broken-hearted little Zoey curled up in a ball in the corner of the bus, not only because it was the only defensive position she really knew, but also because her world felt like it was closing around her. Her perfect world was gone.

Please let Sam be alive, she thought as the buses crashed. Please.


	5. Bump In The Night

**Chapter 5 – Bump in the Night**

_2 days since first infection_

_The Survivors / Zoey, Francis, Bill, Louis, & Ryan_

It was a dark night. The sky was filled with stars. A cool wind swept through the air, sending a chill up Zoey's spine. She had been the first to wake up. There were no infected in the immediate vicinity. No howls or screams could be heard. It was a silent night.

The sky was blackened by ash in the vicinity of the city. Fairfield was falling. She had to do something. She had to get back to Sam. The emptiness that had filled her earlier and the sadness it created within her were now replaced with anger and hatred for the infected. She would carve through the hordes until she found Sam once again. She had silently vowed this to herself.

Zoey was lucky in the crash of the buses. She had been in a perfect place to cushion her. The front ends of the buses careened into each other. The impact molded the buses into one, twisted metal and shrapnel that had destroyed the motors were all but melted together from the impact. The window was Zoey's only option of entrance.

Most of the passengers were dead. They were either impaled by metal, killed by force trauma in the crash, or crushed by the impact of the flying boulder that also hit the Solanum bus once destroying the school bus first.

Zoey had watched way too many horror movies to count. She thought of herself as a monk of sorts, following the films like a religion. Nothing though, not even extensive hours of blood and torture could prepare her for the sight of freshly dead bodies. She pulled herself out of the bus and vomited on the ground. Her stomach was in knots thinking of what she just saw. Lisa Stanfield was nowhere to be seen though. Zoey thought the bitch left without Zoey, hoping she was dead.

Zoey took a moment to get a hold of herself before venturing back into the bas. She tried not to look at the dead again, but the images were already burned into her mind. She tried holding her breath, but all that did was stop herself from sensing the smell of rotting flesh and spilled gasoline. She looked at the back of the bus when she heard a groan.

"Uggggh." The voice grunted. Zoey called back to it.

"Hello?" She called. "Is anybody alive?"

"Uh…who…who's there?" the voice said. It was a low voice that called to her, gruff and gravely. Zoey pushed herself to the back of the bus. The speaker was laying on what gravity now deemed as the floor of the bus but which was once the ceiling. He wore a leather biker's jacket and sported a multitude of tattoos. In his hand he held a pump-action shotgun.

"Hey! You're alive!" Zoey exclaimed. She was filled with relief. "Holy shit!"

"Hey, watch your mouth." The man told Zoey. He pushed himself up to look at her face. "Well hello." He said. He seemed more than happy to see Zoey, but she sensed other intentions in his voice. Half-flattered and half-embarrassed, she spoke to him again.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"The name's Francis. Francis Scott. How bout you?"

"Zoey Wells. Are you hurt?"

"My arm got dislocated. I got it." Francis braced himself against the floor and slammed his left shoulder into the seat in front of him. Zoey heard a loud cracking noise before Francis screamed out in pain.

"Whoa! What have you done this before?"

"Too many times…" Francis groaned.

"Hey…" another voice behind Zoey grunted. "…would you keep it down Francis. I'm trying to sleep here."

"Ryan! You're alive!" Francis exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm aliv…wait, I'm alive!" Ryan proclaimed. "Holy shit, where am I?"

"Our buses crashed together when that…that thing threw a boulder at us." Zoey explained.

"What thing?" another voice asked. It was Louis waking up. "Where? What did it look like?"

"Um…it was big, burly, had a lot of muscles, and-"

"A Tank." Louis said. "It's called a Tank. Just one of the few mutations the virus allows."

"Mutations?"

"Don't ask." Francis told Zoey.

"Anybody gonna help me up?" a final voice asked.

"Who's that?" Zoey asked.

"That would be our fearless leader," Francis said. "Lieutenant Bill Overbeck, Vietnam veteran, Green beret, and all around creepy guy."

"I heard that you pansy, now would you please get this damn guy off of me." Bill was laying on the ground underneath a fallen passenger. He must have gotten thrown on top of Bill during the crash. Zoey pushed herself out of the bus and threw a rock at the window. She and Francis grabbed Bill's hands and pulled.

"Goddamn little lady. Be careful with that glass." There was a ripping noise that was heard as Bill was being pulled out. "Aw, shit. My jacket tore."

"Sorry." Zoey said.

"Aw, it's not your fault Zoey. Just bad luck."

"What now?" Francis asked.

"Well, what about the radio on the bus?" Louis answered.

"I think that actually may work." Zoey said. "I think it survived the crash."

"Let me take a look." Louis knelt down next to the bus and kicked his leg into the window. It shattered with ease. He crawled into the window, covering his mouth to stop the vomit from coming up.

The radio, miraculously, was still intact. Granted though, it had been shot from the front of the bus to the back. Louis toyed with the knobs and pulled the speaker from the holder. There was static, which was good.

"Hello?" Louis said into the speaker. "Is anyone there? This is Louis Henderson. I am an employee of Solanum Industries and am stranded in Allegheny National Park with four other survivors. Is there anyone out there?" Louis was astonished when another voice responded.

"Thank God! Someone's alive! Mr. Henderson, this is Pastor Jack Danvers. I am taking refuge in Valley Church just outside Riverside. The army is trying to convert Riverside into a safe point…but…but they're everywhere! The demons…they're everywhere."

"Will you let us seek refuge with you Father?" Louis asked. "Do you have enough supplies?"

"I have plenty of supplies, plenty of ammo, plenty of food." Jack replied in a hurried voice. The seriousness of the moment was sinking into his mind. "Come here to the church. I have someone here with me already; we'll be alright until you get here."

"Hey guys!" Louis called back from the bus. The Survivors looked down at the window.

"What?" Bill answered.

"How long is the commute from here to Riverside?"

"Two, maybe three days on foot." Francis said. We can cut through the forest to the turnpike near Riverside. Hopefully we can hold out long enough till we get there."

"We'll be there soon Jack. Hold on."

"Go with God Louis. May his light shine on you." Louis pushed himself out of the bus once more. He stood up and told the group what his plan was.

"You want to go to Riverside Church to meet up with a Father you spoke to over the radio and the only way to do that is to go through the forest towards a city for all we know could be completely infected?" Zoey asked.

"That's about it, yeah." There was a moment of silence as the group considered their options.

"We'll leave tomorrow." Bill said, breaking the silence. "For tonight, we'll sleep in shifts." The rest of the survivors didn't dare argue with the Vietnam veteran. Only Zoey said anything, and even then it was under her breath so no one could hear.

"I know how this movie ends."


	6. Creatures in the Trees

_~Hello loyal viewers, I come to you today mostly as a warning. This is the last chapter i will post before I post this story on my hiatus list. I still have to finish writing the next chapter so no it will not appear a week from now. I would alo like to address the storyline of this fic. When i first started it, I wanted to find ways of connecting all the campaigns, which i've recently realized i cannot do effectively anymore. The Dead Air campaign seems just really unneeded in the game as you cannot tie it to any of the other campaigns. So, Dead Air will not be used. I will be compacting many of the chapters into single chapters so as to not seem repetitave and boring, which is basically run and gun shoot the zombies through most of it. Hopefully I can accurately finish the story with enough interest left in the series. For now enjoy this chapter, cause the next one won't be here for some time.~_

**Chapter 6 – Creatures in the Trees**

_3 days after first infection -- Allegheny National Park_

_The Survivors / Zoey, Francis, Bill, Louis, Ryan_

It was a cool night in Allegheny. The stars hung high in the sky, not that Zoey could see them. The trees were too high for that. She imagined them though. She could imagine them well. She just kept remembering that one night seven months ago, when Sam and she had lain out on the college football field. They weren't supposed to be there. The field was fenced off at night, but the padlock they used to shut it was really faulty. Nearly any combination would work on it.

That night, Sam and Zoey snuck out onto the field and lay at the fifty yard line, admiring the stars. Zoey remembered running her fingers through Sam's long blonde hair. Their hands were interlocked on the cold, damp grass. Their lips met at regular intervals. Their love seemed to bring out the moonlight. They had to escape the field before the nosy janitor caught them with his flashlight that seemed to go on for a mile. It had to be the second greatest night of Zoey's life.

Bill was the last one to go on shift. He knew that they needed to rest after the crash, which is why he suggested it. Zoey felt much safer with Bill around. At least he knew how to handle a gun. Zoey never had the pleasure of even holding a gun, much less firing one. Bill seemed very much at home with his handgun in his hand. It seemed like an extension of it. Zoey hadn't been able to sleep during Bill's shift, so she watched him breakdown and reassemble his gun more than a few times. Whenever even the slightest sound was heard in the trees, he put the gun back together again and cocked the hammer, ready for anything.

"Alright, let's get going." Bill announced. Louis looked down at his watch.

"It's five in the morning Bill." He said with a yawn.

"Yeah, so what? We'll cover more ground if we leave earlier." Bill was right, Louis was just groggy. Francis wasn't that big of early bird either.

"Jesus H. Christ, the sun isn't even out yet Bill!" Francis complained.

"We slept for a day, but we needed to go out at night. Louis said the zombies that Solanum did capture and examine had lost their sense of sight."

"Yeah, but I also said their senses of hearing and smell were heightened. It won't matter when we go out, it only matters that we have flesh that they can smell from a just yards away and the fact that we risk making a whole lotta noise with these submachine guns we found on the army guys."

"Well, too late now." said Bill. "I'm goin either way, you comin Zoey?"

"I'm coming Bill. Nothing's keeping me from Sam."

"Oh," Francis said. "so you are taken? Is that his name? Sam?"

"Something along those lines." Zoey figured it would be funnier to let him find out on his own. She wondered what his expression would be when he realized Sam was a 'her' not a 'he'.

--

The Allegheny Woods were quiet. Zoey was beginning to wonder if the infection had spread this far at all. Maybe the Tank was a fluke. Maybe it had followed the group from the city. Alas, Zoey was still paranoid at every turn and tree the group encountered, afraid that it wasn't a human snapping branches under their feet as they walked.

There was a building that wasn't that deep into the woods from where they started. It looked like a Park Ranger's office. No one was there. The windows had been boarded up and the door had been reinforced with stainless steel, but it was wide open. It almost invited the Survivors inside. Bill shuffled to the door and motioned for everyone to get inside. Everyone followed Bill. There had been a soldier on the Solanum bus that he and the others were on that had once been holding an M16 assault rifle. Now, it rested in Bill's battle-hardened hands, a symbol of hope through resistance.

Bill shoved the bolted lock on the door into the wall. Even with only three days since the infection began, people had gone batshit crazy with protective measures. The ranger shack seemed to be reinforced with all types of metal and steel, better to keep them out than to go exploring. The lights were out in the cabin as well.

"Allright, look around for supplies." Bill ordered. "Use your lights, the power box is outside and I am not going out there alone." Zoey commended Bill silently by following one of the cardinal rules of horror movie survival, which was to never go anywhere alone.

"There's nothing here." Francis pointed out. "Whoever was here took what they needed and left."

"I got ammo over here!" Ryan yelled. He was at a table at the back of the room. There was a pile of all types of ammunition sitting on the table, just waiting for the Survivors' enjoyment.

"Load em' up boys." Zoey gave Bill a small punch on the arm, playful and silly in the gesture. "You too Zoey." Bill added.

"Hey, look over here!" Louis called. He was at the end of the shack at another table. His light was shining on the bounty that it yielded.

"Molotov Cocktails and homemade pipe bombs." Bill explained. "It's nice to see everyone else was building an arsenal against these things. Take one of each guys, we may need them."

"How do you use them?" Zoey asked Bill, hoping for some mentor-like advice. Bill provided that for her.

"You pull the pin here and throw for the pipe bombs." He said, pointing to the circle hanging from the pipe bomb. "For the Molotovs, you just light and throw. It'll do the rest by itself." Zoey couldn't help but feel gratitude for the oldest member of the team, even if he barely needed to try.

The silence of the night was broken. A guttural screech pierced the sound barrier, sending shivers up the Survivors' spines. It was from outside.

"What the fuck was that?" Francis asked. Bill quickly pulled out the magazine of his M16 to check the ammo, which was fully stocked. He pushed the mag back into the rifle with the same swiftness he used to pull it out.

"What the hell do you think it is!?" Louis yelled in the biker's ear. He pulled back the slide on the sub-machinegun he held in his hand. The IT desk jockey's hands shook as he stood there mortified that he would have to use the gun at all.

Ryan seemed more ready than anyone. He cocked back the slide on his shotgun, readying for battle, not saying a word. Zoey's knees were shaking. After years of staring at corn syrup and dye, she was both ready and scared to see the real deal splattering all over.

"The first one's the hardest." Bill suddenly whispered into Zoey's ears. "Don't hesitate for a second. Get a shot and take it." Zoey smiled, trying to distract herself from the coming task.

There was another screech in the night. Louis ran to the windows, peeking out through the boards to see outside. They were there already. A horde of zombies stood outside, ready to attack.

"There's a whole lotta them out there." He informed the group. "They look hungry and like they know we're here already."

"They can smell us." Francis said. "Sons of bitches."

"What'll we do?" Ryan asked. "We can't stay here. That guy at the church needs our help."

"What's that smell?" Bill asked. Nobody else had seemed to notice the smell before that moment. It was a sharp smell, slicing the air like a knife. Tangy, but dirty at the same time. Gasoline. It was gasoline. Louis moved to the window.

"They broke a gas pipe outside. It's flooding out around us."

"Can we use that?" Francis wondered.

"Let's see." Bill jumped into action. He slung the M16 around his back and unsheathed his M1911A1 from its leg-holster. He held that in one hand, while a pipe bomb occupied another.

"What are you doing!?" Louis yelled.

"You said these things were attracted to noise right?" Bill asked. "These pipe bombs have been fitted with high-pitched audio emitters and a flashing light. It'll attract these things if I arm it. I'll distract them while I throw a Molotov at the gas tank. Nothing better to stop a horde of hungry mindless zombies than a firewall."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Ryan asked. "We're in the middle of the woods!" Bill didn't factor that into his plan at first. He paced around the shack a bit to think. His flashlight on his handgun caught sight of a map on the wall above the table the explosives had sat on. There were markings all over the map. It was a layout of Allegheny and Riverside, with guide points to safe houses written all over it.

"How did we miss that?" Francis wondered aloud.

"There's a safe house about thirty yards from here." Bill explained. "If we can distract these things for a few minutes at least, we can get there in time. Maybe they have more supplies." There was a moment of silence as everyone considered their options. Run or die. Hard decision, Zoey thought.

"I'm with Bill." She said.

"Me too." Ryan added. Francis and Louis reluctantly agreed as well.

"Let's go."

Bill braced himself against the door. Ryan stood beside him, as backup. Louis readied to release the bolt on the door. Francis stood behind the others, Molotov in hand. Zoey stood beside Francis, ready with a book of matches.

The plan went off perfect. Louis pulled the bolt out of the doorframe, and Bill shoved the door open. The zombies stood ready for him, and accelerated into a run at the very sight of a living breathing human. Bill pulled the pin at the same second that Zoey lit her match. Bill threw the pipe bomb at the same moment Zoey lit the Molotov. The zombies were swarming the pipe bomb, paying absolutely no attention to the Survivors any longer. Francis tossed the Molotov at the gas tank. The survivors bolted from the shack, not looking back when two explosions were heard, and the ground was shaken.

They really were everywhere. As they ran, the Survivors fired at every thing that moved in the night. The Horde swarmed them on all sides. It was their force of will that kept them going. Zoey fired her pistols at the zombies. Bill was right, her first was the hardest.

The first zombie Zoey killed jumped out at her quickly about fifteen yards from the shack. She remembered that it was a man. He was wearing army fatigues, a poor soldier killed in this new war. His hair was cut short, and he towered over Zoey, having at least a foot on her. Zoey raised her gun at him though and fired. The bullets of the pistols passed perfectly through his head, splattering a crimson mist of blood and brain matter behind the soldier. Zoey wanted to stop and admire her kill, but Bill pulled her away before she could.

"I told ya." He said, making Zoey smile once more.

"There's the safe house!" Ryan yelled, picking off another zombie a second later. He was referring to the spray painted house painted above the doorway entrance to a large building in the deep forest. Zoey saw train tracks coming from the building, and she knew that it was a rail yard from that. She didn't really care, she was more focused on the fact that if she stopped at all, she could be killed. The red, steel reinforced door of the safe house beckoned for the survivors to enter.

Bill stopped at the door, allowing the others to enter before him.

"Get in!" He yelled. "Come on!"

"Keep your fucking pants on old man!" Francis yelled. Everyone piled into the room. Bill slammed the door shut just before another zombie slammed up against it. Louis slammed a metal rod into the improvised lock made of steel hooks next to the doors. Ryan shoved a file cabinet in front of the door, stopping it from being opened again.

Zoey let out a sigh of relief once the door was shut. She looked up at the wall before her. Someone had scrawled onto it the message 'Head North to Echo'. The room was trashed. Things were written all over the walls, and papers of all kind were scattered all over the floor.

"How long were we unconscious," Louis asked. "…really?" Zoey began wondering that herself.


End file.
